Category: Viral

After postponing the Mulan reboot indefinitely a few weeks ago, Disney+ has officially decided upon a tactic to release what was designed to be a late-March blockbuster. According to Deadline’s report about Disney’s latest earning call, CEO Bob Chepak accounced that the movie will soon open in international theaters where possible (such as China). However, the U.S. strategy (given the obvious situation at hand) means that theaters simply aren’t a feasible option, so Disney’s laying down their law on Mulan.

On September 4, the film will come to Disney+ as a premium VOD. This will happen for a substantial price point: $29.99.

That’s a rental fee (described as being on a “premiere access basis”), not a purchase price. Presumably, purchase options will be something that’s addressed further down the line. Chepak also relayed that this Disney+/VOD move is only a one-off (so don’t get any ideas about Black Widow) and not meant to predict anything about how the studio will handle streaming and theatrical windows in the future; Disney is simply considering new distribution angles for this pandemic. More from Chepak via CNBC:

“We see this as an opportunity to bring this incredible film to a broad audience, currently unable to go to movie theaters, while also further enhancing the value and attractiveness of a Disney+ subscription with this great content.”

The $29.99 price will certainly save a family of four money while viewing at home (especially if one considers concessions), but it’s not news that theaters will relish hearing. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is still planning on rolling out Tenet globally, including in some U.S. markets, beginning in a few short weeks.

(Via Deadline & CNBC)

“I think what we’re trying to do when we’re living out loud with our fashion is we’re trying to differentiate ourselves. We’re communicating who we are through what we have on us. Having something that is handmade or that has had a lot of work put into it, you can feel that in the garment. It’s heavier, more substantial, it feels richer and nicer.”

Art and authenticity still mean something to Emma McKee. The Chicago-based artist and designer — more popularly known as “Stich Gawd” thanks to her skill at crafting elaborate hand-made cross-stitch jackets — cares far more about quality than commerce. In a world where Warhol and Basquiat prints are slapped on t-shirts ad nauseam, little feels sacred. But for McKee, once money enters the conversation the purity of the craft begins to feel diluted.

This helps explain why the artist — who has cross-stitched jackets for stars like Chance the Rapper, Saba, Vic Mensa, Katrina Tarzian, Joey Purp, and Lil Yachty — won’t accept cash for her pieces. Instead, she prefers to trade her craft for a specified amount of a certain artist’s time.

“There is so much worth that we forget about people because we’re looking at the bottom line of things,” McKee told me recently while readying her latest project, a nine-foot-tall portrait of Civil Right’s leader Fred Hampton to be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

The Stitch Gawd, who was born in Kansas City but calls Chicago home, puts a special emphasis on rappers from the Windy City — where her career as hip-hop’s go-to cross-stitcher catapulted her to international fame. She lives and breathes the local scene, a firmly planted fixtured in the local rap community, and to be “blessed by Stitch Gawd” is now an important rite of passage for young Chi rapper’s on the move.

If you’re rocking a cross-stitched jacket by Stitch Gawd, you’ve just about made it. The future is looking bright.

We linked up with the artist to talk about why the hell cross-stitching — aka your grandma’s favorite hobby — is resonating so strongly in the hip-hop scene, how she approaches her design process, and what she hopes to see change in the ever-shifting realm of streetwear.

How did you first get into cross-stitching?

Totally unwillingly! I’m half British, so everyone in my family cross-stitched except for me because I thought it was tedious and awful. A couple of years back I wanted to get my mom something really nice for Christmas but didn’t know what to get her, so I thought “well she’s been trying to get me to cross-stitch my whole life, let me try to whip something up for her,” so I taught myself how to do it and it came super naturally, like super duper naturally, and I thought “oh, wow I’m really good at this.”

I started wondering if I could start doing it in a less traditional way and try to make my own stuff and I did!

Cross-stitching is a very traditional craft, why did it make sense to you to filter the practice through pop culture themes?

At the end of the day, cross-stitch is just a medium right? If someone tells you they paint, you don’t just assume they do trees, or they’re an impressionist or whatever. Cross-stitch is this weird medium where the medium dictates the content, which doesn’t make much sense to me.

I wasn’t trying to do something really crazy or different, I just had all these ideas, and the one method of expression I had at my disposable that I was good at was cross-stitch.

What do you think it is about cross-stitching that seems to be resonating in the hip-hop and streetwear community in particular?

That’s an interesting question because you wouldn’t think the two would naturally go hand in hand. When you see it in person and you’re holding it, it just looks like there is so much work involved, it looks so different than anything else. I think for hip-hop or streetwear in general, any situation that makes someone think “oh shit, that looks different” is going to be a thing. Finding new avenues in streetwear and pop culture is always going to catch someone’s attention.

As far as embroidery goes, cross-stitch itself looks so different than any other form of embroidery. You don’t see it in very many pop culture arenas. I think the closest you get to see it is in some ironic Little Jon lyric cross-stitched in an episode of Girls or some shit, you usually only see cross-stitch being used ironically and I just think that irony is so played out.

Who gave you the Stich Gawd name?

The first piece of press I ever did was for The Fader and the girl interviewing me called me that jokingly and it super stuck! How crazy is that, no one knows what you’re doing, and all of a sudden the first piece of press you get, it’s like being knighted — they dub you with this crazy nickname and now peopled don’t even know my real name anymore.

They act like my first name is Stich and my last name is Gawd.

You’ve made some jackets for some of the biggest artists in hip-hop, have you been particularly starstruck by anyone?

Kanye…I was very very starstruck by Kanye, but he’s so larger than life how could you not be?. Chicago is kind of a funny place, everything is just so small. Chicago people never really made me starstruck because I’m always much more impressed.

Everybody else I’m just impressed to meet, I know their work very well, and I’ve been working on stuff for them, it’s like meeting an old friend.

Do you have a favorite piece you’ve made for someone, or is it too hard to pick a favorite?

Oh no, I have a favorite! You think that would be hard, but this is why I can’t have kids — I’d definitely pick a favorite, it wouldn’t be fair!

My favorite piece is this Long Live John Walt jacket. There is this rapper, Saba, he’s from Chicago, one of my favorite rappers of all time. I made him a piece early on, but wanted to make him something else, but what to make him totally eluded me. That’s super frustrating when you really want to make something for someone but you can’t think of what the idea is, and for everybody else, it just came so easy, but for Saba… I couldn’t.

Then this crazy tragic thing happens, his cousin was murdered at 3:00 in the afternoon, two weeks before Saba is going on his first national sold-out tour, and its the same weekend Chance is winning his three Grammys, so we were all out in LA doing that, and we hear John Walt was murdered.

So I decided I would make Saba some armor to take with him on tour. I wanted to make a portrait of his cousin so that Walt could come on tour with him. It was down to the wire, I was working on it until 1:00 in the morning, he was going to O’Hare airport at 3:00, I drove out to the Westside to drop it off.

I had never done a portrait or a memorial jacket like that, it has always been things I’ve given people, but this one… he said he felt protected in it, and that just took the wind out of me. Making a piece of art that can be in any way meaningful to a person like that, just makes my head spin.

I saw this whole different power in the medium that I didn’t really see before — to help someone. So that one really turned the corner for me in terms of how I do things, how I think about the work, how I work with people. It really changed a lot for me. It’s my all-time favorite. But my second favorite piece would have to be a new piece inspired by that one, I’m doing a 9 foot 200-pound portrait of Chairman Fred Hampton, that would be my most recent favorite piece.

So in terms of your favorite, it’s less about the technical aspect, and more about the sentimentality about who it was gifted to?

The fact that it meant so much to him, and that I could do something in such a pivotal and upsetting, just a crazy time in his life, the fact that I could offer anything that would somehow make him feel… I don’t want to say better, because I don’t want to imbue myself with that power, but to help him along, that was really meaningful to me.

That brings me to ask about your barter system… can you expand upon that and why that’s the model that works for you?

It’s kind of evolved through the years, but it has always been the same kind of sentiment. It was awfully hard for me to just design things, and sell them, it’s never been my rai·son d’ê·tre, I didn’t start cross stitching with great aspirations or to make money, I literally just fell backward into having this skill, and I was crazy good at it.

I was inspired by the artists around me, it’s hard to be like “Hey you inspired this, it took me 60 hours, and now I need you to give me a couple of thousand dollars for it,” at the beginning of a career, that’s almost impossible. So I would just trade people for stuff.

To me it was like, you Dane, can give me $20, the same $20 that Chance the Rapper gives me, and it’ll be the same $20, it’ll go as far. But if I’m trying to do a hip-hop project, 20 minutes from you is going to be a lot different than 20 minutes from Chance the Rapper. There is so much worth that we forget about people because we’re looking at the bottom line of things.

Inviting money into a conversation about art inherently changes all of it, and I’m not interested in that at all. We spend our whole lives running around trying to make a paycheck, trying to pay our bills, trying to get richer, bringing that into art is tricky business and I didn’t want to have to deal with that.

And it’s paid off in spades!

People think I’m crazy for doing it, but honestly, all the opportunities and the things that I’ve traded for have been so much more meaningful and worthwhile than money. That money would’ve been spent, and I couldn’t even tell you on what. The experiences from the bartering has just been so much more exciting to me.

It also means I don’t have to weigh myself and put a value onto myself. Forcing yourself to find value in your work and basing it on something is just inherently evil and corrupt, it doesn’t appeal to me. I make some money off the cross stitch stuff, but it’s with brands, I don’t barter with brands. Brands are not people, I allow brands to pay me and that funds the rest of the stuff.

How much input, if any, do the artists contribute to the design, and who has been your favorite to work with?

It really depends on the artist. I think that there has only been once or twice where an artist has been like “hey can I have this specific thing?” And I’ve said “Yes.” I don’t do that very often, I don’t find much joy in that, that’s just labor. In true collaboration, I’d say the input and design process is more nebulous. When I can, I like to talk to artists about themselves and the things that they love, and the things that are meaningful to them. Through that, I’ll often figure out the visual thing.

I don’t ask like, “What’s your favorite color?”

I had an outfit that I made last summer, and in our consultation talk we talked a lot about balance and equity, and that informed the entire design of the piece. You may not know that by looking at it, and there are no visual references, but when they saw it they were like “Oh, yeah of course, that’s exactly it!”

The input is like a conversation.

I loved doing stuff with SZA, she was really fucking wonderful and very giving of herself and generous with who she is. She was very lovely! She might be one of my favorites.

When you’re making a design in memoriam, what is something that you try to keep in mind? I notice those pieces have a way different vibe than your other pieces.

I want them to be peaceful and protective. The end goal with all the in memoriam pieces is to have them with the people they’re supposed to be with. Eventually, in the next couple of years, I’ll do a show, and I’ll show them off and send them back to their respective people. I did a Fredo Santana one, so when his son turns 16, he’s like three right now, I’m going to give him the jacket.

Mac MIller’s mom has already seen the jacket, and I have my route of getting it to her, so after my show, I’ll give Mac Miller’s jacket to his mom. I don’t explicitly put the ask out there to connect me, but the people always find me, it’s very strange. The Nipsey Hussle one is going to go to his sister, they’re all made with that in mind, this is a piece that is going to be with this person’s loved ones — I want it to feel peaceful and protective.

Right now, it seems like things like embroidery, cross-stitching, other hand made touches seem to be enjoying a new level of appreciation in streetwear, why do you think that is?

We’ve reached the end of Western Civilization, everything is a remix! Streetwear is such an interesting place, a lot of what we call “streetwear” is basic tops and bottoms, rewriting the rules on those, and even the classical silhouettes, is very difficult. It’s really hard to come up with something new and interesting, so when you have a handmade process that thing is inherently different and unique and one of a kind. I think what we’re trying to do when we’re living out loud with our fashion is, we’re trying to differentiate ourselves. We’re communicating, who we are through what we have on us. Having something that is handmade or that has had a lot of work put into it, you can feel that in the garment. It’s heavier, most substantial, it feels richer and nicer.

Are there any labels or brands out there that you really like what they’re doing?

Pyer Moss, I love Pyer Moss so much. Some of my favorites in Chicago — Sheila Rashid, she does the best denim. Alex Carter, she was just on Project Runway last season I believe. Kristopher Kites, he does… it’s going to sound so bad if I just say plastic necklaces, but he does a lot of really great jewelry and shirts.

And of course, streetwear god of Chicago, Joe Freshgoods.

Do you have any plans to make embroidered face masks? We’re always looking for cooler face masks

I actually just did one! It’ll probably be out once this article goes live. The problem with embroidered face masks is they have a lot of holes, obviously, so you have to be careful with how you construct them.

Because of the pandemic, we’ve reached a point where a lot of industries are being forced to hit reset — hopefully for the better. What do you hope to see in the fashion industry moving forward?

It’s the same thing I’d like to see across all industries — honesty and truth. I think we have a big problem with mass production in fashion, it’s really bad for the planet, we don’t talk about it, it’s not really studied and no one regulates it. It’s a big big big big problem.

It would be great to address that, fashion has so many wonderful and amazing things about it, but it also has a lot of deep dark holes. Traditionally it’s been a very exclusionary industry, racist, misogynistic, all those things. What’s interesting about this time period, with the pandemic and what is essentially the second civil rights movement, is that all the wiring is getting exposed. I have full faith that the bad wiring in fashion will be exposed sooner or later anyway. Bad practices under pressure don’t net very good results. It remains to be seen what will actually happen, but I would love if we can address environmental impact, and sexism and racism in fashion, that would be tight.

I would love to see more woman streetwear designers. More Melody Ehsanis. It would be really cool to see women take a much more prevalent role in streetwear, we’re doing it, it’s the best it’s been but there is so much more to do!

When The Matrix opened 21 years ago, it lit the world on fire with its reality-bending story and iconic fight scenes that Hollywood would spend years trying to imitate, but never quite matching. But tucked inside the sci-fi classic was a resonating theme of “transformation” that the Wachowksi siblings purposefully seeded into the film. As The Matrix fans would come to learn, the Wachowskis were both on a journey of discovering their trans identity in a world that wasn’t ready for that kind of message in a summer blockbuster.

In a new, socially distanced video for the Netflix Film Club, Lilly Wachowski fielded questions about the trans allegory that’s very present in The Matrix, and how she’s glad that more people are finally catching onto it in recent years despite the studio removing some of the more queer elements such as making the character of Switch a man in the real world. However, the message was loud and clear to transgender audiences who found The Matrix films to be a life-affirming experience.

“I love how meaningful these films are to trans people,” Wachowski said. “And the way they come up to me and say, ‘These movies saved my life.’ Because when you talk about transformation, specifically in the world of science fiction, which is just about imagination, it’s like world-building and the idea of the seemingly impossible becoming possible. I think that’s why it speaks to them so much.”

With the Wachowski siblings now openly out as transgender women, it will be interesting to see what new themes and genre-bending narrative they’ll bring to The Matrix 4. Not only is the filmmaking duo returning for the fourth installment, but they’re bringing along original cast-members Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss. Although, fans will be waiting a while as production on The Matrix 4 is currently on hold due to the pandemic. That was one bullet Neo couldn’t dodge.

(Via Netflix Film Club)

The Milwaukee Bucks are perhaps the best team in the NBA. The Brooklyn Nets are decidedly not. In their matchup on Tuesday morning, one that looks like it could be the 1-8 matchup in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks were at nearly full strength, while the already shorthanded Nets had to take the floor without Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, or Caris LeVert. And despite all of this, Brooklyn somehow managed to pull off one of the biggest upsets we’ve seen in recent NBA history.

The Nets, which entered this game as 18.5-point underdogs, took advantage of nearly every Bucks mistake en route to a 119-116 win. The game was tightly-contested throughout, and from the very beginning, Brooklyn did not back down from Milwaukee. That was case even after Jamal Crawford, who made his debut for the team, left the game due to a hamstring injury after only six minutes.

Surprisingly, the hero of the evening for Brooklyn was Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, a fourth-year forward out of France who has had some nice moments for the squad, but have the Bucks all they could handle on Tuesday. Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting with a 5-for-7 clip from deep.

The hot shooting wasn’t specific to Luwawu-Cabarrot, as Brooklyn went 21-for-57 from deep on the afternoon. This included 14 made triples in the first half, the team’s high on the season.

Brooklyn had solid contributions up and down the roster. While Chris Chiozza had a tough shooting afternoon, the former Florida point guard was steady at the point, scoring 10 points and doling out 10 assists and having a team-high +17 in 31 minutes. A collection of other players — Justin Anderson (11 points), Tyler Johnson (11), and Rodions Kurucs (10) — provided double-digit scoring as well. And when Brooklyn needed a bucket to put some breathing room between themselves and the Bucks at the end of the game, Garrett Temple, who had 19 on the day, knocked down a silky midrange jumper.

In fairness to Milwaukee, it did use Tuesday’s game as a chance to get its two biggest stars some rest. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Khris Middleton had eight points, four boards, and two dimes. Both players only saw the floor for 16 minutes, all of which came in the first half, in something that Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer called a tactical decision.

Still, as The Action Network noted, the Nets pulled off the NBA’s biggest upset since 1995 with their win over one of the title favorites, and even when considering the minutes that Antetokounmpo and Middleton played, Brooklyn took an 8-point lead into the half. It is extremely possible that these two sides meet up again in the playoffs, and should that happen, it’d be an uphill battle for the Nets to avoid getting swept against a totally locked in Bucks side. But for one day, they were the better team, and perhaps Brooklyn will ride this win to a few more during the seeding games.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning (Netflix standup special) — For her first hour-long comedy special with the streaming giant, SNL writer Sam Jay headed to Atlanta, Georgia to get witty, candid, and raw at The Masquerade club.

Stargirl (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — The Injustice Society of America advances upon Courtney’s new generation of heroes while Pat regroups with them to figure out a new plan. Before long, showdown time will be upon them while Rick’s attempting to score a breakthrough.

Tell Me a Story (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — A one-night stand leads to awkward results for Kayla and Nick while Jordan’s helping the police nab Eddie as one of the jewelry-heist suspects.

Mystery Lab (Netflix series) — YouTube science host Felipe Castanhari brings his facts-based analysis to answer pressing questions such as “what happens at the Bermuda Triangle?” along with “is it possible to time travel?” and “what were pre-historic dogs like?”

Netflix has also dropped many other comedy specials over the past few months, and here are the highlights:

Eric Andre: Legalize Everything — This New Orleans-filmed special shows Eric Andre once again busting through comedic boundaries while taking on the wars on sex, drugs, and… fart jokes? Alright. Seriously though, It’s the best comedy special of the year and highly relevant to the U.S. police-related discussion today.

Jim Jefferies: Intolerant — The Aussie comedian (who remains notorious for his gun-control opinion) pulls a 180 from where he was five years ago. He’s less focused on issues these days and grows incredibly banal at times, but he’s still uproariously funny. While reflecting upon the state of comedy today, he manages to dole out some hefty insight on life while telling an epic tale of the pursuit of lactose at all costs.

Pete Davidson: Alive From New York — From SNL to a ton of upcoming movies, Pete Davidson’s doing everything, and now, he’s got his very first Netflix original comedy special. Yes, he’s dropping all kinds of unfiltered anecdotes on everything from his SNL-related discomfort to his Louis C.K. beef and Ariana Grande relationship.

Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything — The Emmy and Grammy winning comedian brings his newest comedy special to the streaming giant. Look forward to anecdotes involving a full-scale Millennium Falcon replica and how home buying gets tied to the term “suicide squad.” Stick around for the post-credits bonus, in which Patton introduces another one-hour comedy special, Bob Rubin: Oddities & Rarities.

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours To Kill — The legendary Jerry Seinfeld has dropped his second Netflix special. Expect him to keep mining everyday life to unveil comedy in the commonplace. Although the title of this special feels Bond-esque, Seinfeld doesn’t disappoint those expecting his trademarked sharp perceptions about everyday life.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Netflix stand-up special) — The newest Netflix comedy special arrives today with Hannah Gadsby following up on Nanette with a second turn named after one of her dogs. Gadsby’s hope was that Douglas would “inspire comedy disobedience,” according to Netflix, and this LA-filmed special promises to upend all expectations.

Marc Maron: End Times Fun — The long-time standup comic, GLOW star, and prolific podcaster unleashes his latest comedy special. Expect Maron’s thoughts on cell phones, vaccinations, and Tumeric. Oh, and he’s definitely talking about his ongoing beef with Marvel movie fans.

George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half (Netflix stand-up special, Tuesday) — Somehow, this is Lopez’s first Netflix comedy special despite his storied stand-up roots. In one hour, Lopez dives into lessons that he’s learned from the Latino community, along with issues related to emotional support animals, gender reveal parties, and elevator etiquette.

Jack Whitehall: I’m Only Joking — Jack’s back for his second Netflix original standup special filmed at London’s Wembley Stadium. This time around, he’s experiencing an awkward audience encounter while relating an awkward air-travel story (remember airplanes?) and reflecting upon awkward times with his dad.

Taylor Tomlinson: Quarter-Life Crisis — Taylor Tomlinson has made a high-spirited appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, and Netflix now presents her first comedy special. Over the course of an hour, Tomlinson will discuss how she’s leaving the mistakes of her early 20s behind her (and tell us why why your twenties are not truly “the best years of your life”).

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Griffin, and Gracie Abrams

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Matthew Macfadyen, Foster the People

Kanye West’s album promotional cycle disguised as a political campaign suffered a blow today as the Associated Press reports the mercurial rapper/producer told Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson that West would be dropping his petition to be included on the New Jersey election ballot. An email chain between the judge and an unidentified person using what appeared to be the rapper’s campaign email address read, “At this time, Kanye 2020 has no further option than to regrettably withdraw from New Jersey and cease further efforts to place Mr. West’s name on the New Jersey ballot.”

Cookson replied, “I will consider this email as a request for a withdrawal of your petition to be placed in nomination for the President of the United States in the State of New Jersey.” The petition itself was already under dispute, as election law attorney Scott Salmon had previously objected to Kanye’s petition in July, arguing that many of the signatures appeared to have similar handwriting or appeared incomplete. The AP notes that Salmon brought the complaint on his own behalf despite being registered as a Democrat, and seemed satisfied with Kanye’s withdrawal.

“I am glad that the Kanye campaign has realized that their petition was so deficient that it wasn’t even worth defending,” Salmon told AP by phone. “It sort of highlights the fact that it shouldn’t have been submitted in the first place.”

Among the issues noted by Salmon’s complaint, some signatures were missing complete addresses, while a number of the signatures displayed the same writing quirk: lower-case “i’s” dotted with circles. Kanye announced his bid for the Presidency in June, well after several states closed their eligibility periods and extremely close to the deadlines for several others. At the time, he had yet to file paperwork in most states. Shortly thereafter, he announced his new album, Donda, giving a release date that has since come and gone without a sign of the new music in question.

Let’s list some good movies. The Matrix, John Wick, Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels, and Furious 7 are good movies, and one of the reasons why they’re good movies is because of the stuntwomen doing impossibly dangerous and entertaining stunts for little acclaim. Their time has come, however, in the trailer for Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, about the women who perform death-defying cannon rolls for our amusement.

Directed by April Wright and narrated by Michelle Rodriguez, Stuntwomen “introduces us to the female stunt performers who drive the action and thrills of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster movies from the silent age of cinema to present day,” according to Shout! Factory (here’s a good article about silent-era stuntwomen). “I wanted to be respected,” a stuntwomen declares in the trailer above, “and I didn’t want to be respected for a girl.”

Here’s the official synopsis.

STUNTWOMEN: THE UNTOLD HOLLYWOOD STORY is the inspiring untold story about the unsung professionals, their struggles on screen to perform at the highest level, and their fight off-screen to be treated fairly and equally. The movie takes us behind-the-scenes and introduces us to the female stunt performers who drive the action and thrills of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster movies from the silent age of cinema to present day.

Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story is available digitally on September 22.

Carmelo Anthony and the Portland Trail Blazers are currently in a battle for the ninth seed in the Western Conference in the Disney Bubble in Orlando, but the former All-Star forward is still finding time to enjoy his wine with friends on his “What’s In Your Glass?” show on YouTube.

On Monday night, Anthony was joined by Snoop Dogg for a conversation about just about everything, from marijuana to wine to Snoop’s tips for reinventing yourself and much more. About midway through the conversation, Melo brought up their mutual friend Kobe Bryant’s passing earlier this year, and asked Snoop to explain to people his relationship with Kobe.

Snoop saw Kobe not just as a friend but someone who had followed a very similar path to him, explaining to Carmelo that he saw “a perfect mirror of what my career was” in Kobe’s journey in the NBA — at the 20:19 mark of the video.

“You know what, it was crazy, because you can look at our careers as being parallel,” Snoop says. “When he came in the league he was young, and when I came into the league I was young. And we came to great franchises, and at the same time we had to earn our position, wasn’t nothin’ given, and once we got it we didn’t look back. Whoever’s spot we took wasn’t ever getting back on the court again, and then from there we had to learn how to be a team player. From learning how to be a team player, we had to learn how to be a family man, then from being a family man, we had to learn how to adjust later in our careers to not being as good as we were — or as best as we could be. And then we had to adjust to life after, life after being the best basketball player in the world to being a businessman, a father, an advocate for women and basketball for girls.

“So that for me, that’s the perfect mirror of what my career was as far as the things that I’ve done with my football league and becoming a family man. Being a team player, going to No Limit Records, coming back home and building my things with the community where I’m from. And just watching me and him grow as friends, just being able to call him and say, ‘Man, that was beautiful what you did that movie you did about your basketball thing,’ and him to call me and tell me, ‘Man, when you did that thing, that performance.’ Like, hen we’d see each other it’d be more congratulations about me seeing his highlights and him telling me about my highlights. So those were moments that I could celebrate my highlights, because one of my friends and one of the guys I looked up to on the basketball court appreciated what I’d done as much as I appreciated him, and we had no problem saying that.”

They then laughed about how Kobe would always go out of his way to show Snoop love at games, only to return to the court “smelling like that stuff.” The entire conversation was really interesting, particularly when Snoop would talk about his career and his longevity, noting that he learned to tap into the youth and become “Uncle Snoop” without ever sacrificing who he was or his style to try and fit the moment. It was something you could clearly see hit Carmelo, who has had his own journey of reinventing himself while trying to figure out how to stay true to his playing style in the NBA, finding a snug fit in Portland currently.

Eight NBA teams don’t have all that much to do right now. While 22 squads are posted up in Orlando for the league’s Disney bubble, the remaining eight franchises are sitting at home, with players working out at facilities but otherwise sitting and waiting for things to ramp up ahead of the 2020-21 season.

A proposal that went around several months back was for a bubble league-type situation for those eight squads, which would give them a chance to compete and prevent too much rust to build up before next season tips off. However, a new report by Shams Charania of The Athletic indicates that we may not get to see this come to fruition.

As Charania reports, there is a sense of pessimism about both a second bubble and in-market minicamps where group workouts would occur. It would be a massive undertaking for the league, one that would occur as COVID-19 cases are spiking nationwide.

At its core, with most of the eight teams having shared concerns about the impact of players going all these months without doing development work and five-on-five action, this is a question of risk vs. reward. Yet while there had been extensive discussion about the idea of scrimmages in a possible second bubble being televised, the possible upside of that business element is paltry compared to the revenue generated by the forthcoming playoff action in Orlando (as The Athletic reported previously, approximately $900 million in national television money alone). The dangers, meanwhile, are more concerning than ever as the coronavirus continues to spread across America.

The eight teams are Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Golden State, Minnesota, and New York. If nothing is worked out that would give these players a chance to do anything beyond small workouts, and the league is able to tip off its next season sometime in December as it hopes, then those squads will go nine months between the end of their 2019-20 campaigns and their next games.

Billie Eilish has always been vocal about her love of other artists’ music. The Grammy Award-winning singer even revealed that she used to have a Justin Bieber obsession so pervasive that her parents once considered putting her in therapy. The singer dissects music from today’s popular artists on her podcast Me & Dad Radio, where she discussed only recently finding out her favorite childhood song was by Taylor Swift. On the podcast’s most recent episode, Eilish revealed one of the musicians she looks up to most.

Eilish invited her brother Finneas to be a part of Friday’s Me & Dad Radio episode where the two took a look back on the albums that influenced their music taste. “This is our Finneas episode – full of childhood bops, some inspirational songs me and Finneas have loved over the years, some songs we’ve shown each other, songs that we’ve been inspired by,” Eilish told listeners at the podcast’s introduction.

After playing Childish Gambino’s 2011 track “Bonfire,” Eilish praised Donald Glover as an artistic inspiration. “This is from the album I think both me and Finneas found Donald Glover through. Incredible album,” Eilish said. “The first song I heard ever from him, and was actually I think the first song I heard that was like rap, was ‘Heartbeat’ from this album.” Eilish added: “From then on, everybody knows that Donald Glover is like… one of my all-time favorite creators. He’s exactly everything that I idolize about a creator. He’s every single element of what I think is amazing.”

Finneas chimed in that his favorite lyric on “Bonfire” is the track’s first verse: “Okay, it’s Childish Gambino, homegirl drop it like the NASDAQ.”

Listen to the full episode of Me & Dad Radio here.